Mechanical buckling induced periodic kinking/stripe microstructures in mechanically peeled graphite flakes from HOPG

TL;DR

This paper investigates the formation of periodic kink and stripe microstructures in graphite flakes peeled from HOPG, using a theoretical elastic buckling model that aligns with experimental observations.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical model explaining the ordered microstructures in peeled graphite flakes based on elastic buckling phenomena.

Findings

The model predicts stripe widths consistent with experimental data.

Ordered microstructures result from elastic buckling under bending.

The study enhances understanding of mechanical exfoliation effects on graphite.

Abstract

Mechanical exfoliation is a widely used method to isolate high quality graphene layers from bulk graphite. In our recent experiments, some ordered microstructures, consisting of a periodic alternation of kinks and stripes, were observed in thin graphite flakes that were mechanically peeled from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). A theoretical model is presented in this paper to understand the formation of such ordered microstructures, based on elastic buckling of a graphite flake being subjected to a bending moment. The width of the stripes predicted from this model agrees reasonably well with our experimental measurements.